Caomhán mac Connmhach
Open-knowledge reference entry
Caomhán mac Connmhach, Eponym and Ancestor of the Clan Ó Caomháin of north Connacht, fl. 9th-10th century. The surname is variously anglicised as Keevan, Kevane, Keeveen, Keevans, Keaven, Keavan, Cavan.
Family background
Caomhán mac Connmhach and Dubda mac Connmhach were grandsons of King Donn Cothaid mac Cathail of Ui Fiachrach Muaidhe (died 772). Their father was Connchmach mac Donn Cothaid mac Cathail, who traced his descent back to the semi-legendary Niall Noígíallach (died c. 450?), via his son, Fiachu mac Néill (fl. 507-514). This made Caomhán a member of the Uí Fiachrach dynasty who produced a number of Kings of Connacht.
Division of land
According to Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (263.8):
Caomhán was older than Dubhda and Caomhán thought that the kingship [of Uí Fiachrach Muaidhe] was his; but God did not will that there should be kings of his progeny; and they made an arrangement about the kingship, i.e. that Caomhán's representative should have a choice of territory as his patrimony and (the right to be at) the shoulder of the king of Ui Fhiachrach always, [the possession of] his steeds and accoutrements when he is inaugurated, and [the right to] proceed around him three times after his inauguration; and the territory that he chose was from Tuaim Dhá Bhodhar to Gleóir.
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This entry incorporates text from “Caomhán mac Connmhach” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.